with request for inclusion in the agenda for the debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law

pursuant to Rule 122 of the Rules of Procedure

on Burma - conduct of elections and the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi

Marie-Christine Vergiat, Gabriele Zimmer, Rui Tavares
on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group

NB: This motion for a resolution is available in the original language only.

European Parliament resolution on Burma - conduct of elections and the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi

B7‑0646/2010

The European Parliament,

–having regard to its previous resolutions of 20 May 2010, 11 February 2010, 22 October 2008, 18 June 2008, 22 April 2008, 26 September 2007, 21 June 2007 and 14 December 2006 on Burma/Myamnar

–having regard to the Council Conclusions on Burma/Myanmar adopted at the 3009th Foreign Affairs Council meeting held in Luxembourg on 26 April 2010,

–having regard to the statements made by High Representative Catherine Ashton on 7 November 2010 on the elections in Burma/Myanmar and on 12 November on the release of Aung San Suu Kyi,

–having regard to the statements made by the President of the European Parliament on the elections in Burma/Myanmar on 8.11.2010 and on the release of Aung San Suu Kyi on 13.11.2010

–having regard to Rule 122(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas for the first time in 20 years the military regime in Burma held general elections, but under conditions excluding the biggest part of the opposition, especially the most prominent person Aung San Suu Kyi, and thousands other representatives who remained under arrest,

B. whereas these elections were held against the background of a deteriorated human rights record in 2009 and in 2010; whereas the citizens are systematically denied basic freedoms including freedom of expression, association, and assembly;

C. whereas these elections cannot be assessed of having been inclusive, free and fair as the opposition was under major restrictions, including to the registration, to campaign, the freedom of assembly and expression, limits on the access to the media and biased reporting on their activities;

D. whereas on 13 November the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi was lifted, under which she lived for many years,

E. whereas an estimated 2100 political prisoners remain in prison; whereas more than 230 Buddhist monks involved in the 2007 protests remain in prison;

F. whereas continued attacks by the army and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) displaced thousands of civilians and forced an estimated thousands of refugees into Thailand;

G. whereas there are an estimated half-million internally displaced persons in eastern Burma, and 140 000 refugees remain in nine camps along the Thailand-Burma border; whereas Millions of Burmese migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers live in Thailand, India, Bangladesh, and Malaysia and are sometimes subject to trafficking;

1. notes the first elections being held in Burma/Myanmar for 20 years, but regrets that they were not sufficiently inclusive, participatory, transparent and fair;

2. hopes nevertheless that the elections could be the starting point for a democratisation process with greater pluralism, the release of all political prisoners and the guarantee of the basic democratic rights and fundamental freedoms; hopes that such a development could at the end lead to a national reconciliation;

3. deplores the fact that a high percentage of seats in the Parliament were reserved for the military, which contradicts normal democratic procedures and the rule of law;

4. welcomes the end of the house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, but regrets that she was excluded from participating in the elections earlier this month;

5. hopes that no further restrictions will be placed upon her and that she could assume all her democratic rights and fully participate in a national process of democratisation and reconciliation;

6. urges the Government of Myanmar to release all prisoners of conscience without delay, without conditions and with full restoration of their political rights and to desist from further politically motivated arrests;

7. reaffirms the essential importance of a genuine process of dialogue and national reconciliation for a transition to democracy; calls on the Government of Myanmar to immediately start a genuine dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy and all other concerned parties and ethnic groups; welcomes in this context the mediation efforts by the UN Secretary-General and his Special rapporteur on Burma;

8. strongly calls upon the Government of Myanmar to lift restrictions on the freedom of assembly, association, movement and freedom of expression, including for free and independent media, including through the openly available and accessible use of Internet and mobile telephone services, and ending the use of censorship;

9. calls upon the Government of Myanmar to ensure a full, transparent, effective, impartial and independent investigation into all reports of human rights violations, and to bring to justice those responsible in order to end impunity for such crimes;

10. expresses concern about the conditions in prisons and other detention facilities, and consistent reports of ill-treatment of prisoners of conscience, including torture, and about the moving of prisoners of conscience to isolated prisons far from their families where they cannot receive food and medicine;

11. expresses its deep concern about the resumption of armed conflict in some areas and calls upon the Government of Myanmar to protect the civilian population in all parts of the country and for all concerned to respect existing ceasefire agreements;

12. expresses its concern about the continuing discrimination, human rights violations, violence, displacement and economic deprivation affecting numerous ethnic minorities, including, but not limited to, the Rohingya ethnic minority in Northern Rakhine State, and calls upon the Government of Myanmar to take immediate action to bring about an improvement in their respective situations;

13. strongly calls upon the Government of Myanmar to put an immediate end to the continuing recruitment and use of child soldiers, to intensify measures to ensure the protection of children from armed conflict and to pursue its collaboration with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, including by granting access to areas where children are recruited, for the purpose of implementing an action plan to halt this practice;

14. calls to the Burmese authorities to allow Aung San Suu Kyi to follow the invitation of the President Jerzy Buzek to visit the European Parliament for its December session and the Sakharov Price Ceremony 2010, and to guarantee her safe return;

15. instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the EU Special Envoy for Burma, the Burmese State Peace and Development Council, the governments of the ASEAN and ASEM member states, the ASEM secretariat, the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the NLD, the UN Secretary-General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur for Burma.